Gilmore Girls : Rory & Jess
by Ziggy13
Summary: One month after Rory leaves Yale and her mother, she meets Jess in New York. As we all know, Jess and Rory are meant to be...so they fall in love even though they face many conflicts including Logan
1. Gloomy Days

**Gilmore Girls**

**A month after Season 5 finale**

**1. GLOOMY DAYS**

What a boring day, Rory thought as she lied on her bed watching her plasma T.V. The only show that was on, on a weekday was the Donna Reed Show. Suddenly tears floated down Rory's eyes. She began having flashbacks of watching the Donna Reed show with her mother. She remembered the many times they would make fun of Donna for always being the ditzy perfect little wife who cooked the whole day for her husband and kids who were unusually very happy and looked like they were on drugs.

Knock, knock!

"RORY! RORY! It's me! Open the door!"

Rory quickly wiped her tears away and ran for the door. Outside standing with her perfect summer chapeau and matching sunglasses was Emily Gilmore.

Emily was delighted now that Rory was in her hands. Finally she could relive her moments of being the mother of a girl who didn't get pregnant at the age of sixteen.

"What're you doing inside on a perfect day like this? Go on out with how about…oo la la… Logan!"

How she would love to go out with Logan right now! If only he hadn't gone with his friends to Europe. Rory was kind of pissed off at the fact that Logan didn't even ask her to come with him especially since she was heartbroken about what had happened with her mother.

"Logan went to Europe grandma."

"Really? Well then how about, what's her name, the girl with the very angry voice that scares me to death? Something like a city…"

"Paris?"

"That's her! Why don't you go catch up with her?"

Not such a bad idea, Rory thought. At least she would get her mind off some of her problems. Or hell, she could talk to Paris about it.

"Good idea."

It was decided. This weekend, Paris and I were going on a road trip to god knows where because we both needed some girl talk.

Girl talk with Mom was so much fun. We'd stay up all night. Pig out on junk food from Luke's, rent movies and just _chillax_.

Mom, Luke, Stars hollow… all these things that were so familiar to me were lost and I let this happen. If only Mom could understand that it was normal to take time off from college. What made me more frustrated was that Mom hadn't even called me after the day I moved in to Grandma's. Why hadn't she called me? Did she want me back at Stars hollow at all? And so what if she was angry, she should've at least contacted me. All these questions suffocated my brain and made me want to break everything around me.

I took a few deep breaths and looked around. All I saw was an empty, boring room with a bookshelf on one side, a king-size bed with a suitcase on top of it, a desk and my plasma T.V. Grandma told me she wanted me to have my privacy so she gave me the Pool-house. Only problem was that the pool-house was so isolated and empty. It made me feel lonely. Without my best friend, without my conscious, without my Mom, I was lonely.

"Hurry up Gilmore! I think I see Mary Poppins floating in the air with her umbrella and at this rate she's moving faster than you!" Paris snapped.

"You're impossible Paris!" I squeaked. This felt good. Things felt a little bit back to normal and I felt much calmer. "By the way… where the hell are we goin' Paris?"

"I'm thinking New York. Been there before?"

I could feel sweat drops on my forehead. New York. Yes, I knew New York very well. New York was where I decided to skip my mother's graduation to go off with some jerk who left me. He wouldn't be in New York _now_ would he? Hopefully not.

"Geez Rory! At least answer me! HAVE…YOU…BEEN…TO…NEW…YORK?"

I laughed. For the first time in a month, I was enjoying myself.

"_Yess_ Paris, I have." About four years ago, I thought to myself, four years.


	2. Girl Talk Means Girl Talk

**2. GIRL TALK MEANS GIRL TALK**

Here I was driving amidst the suburbs trying to find the nearest restaurant so that Paris could shut up about her bladder problem.

"Well there's something that looks like a restaurant," sighed Paris, "oh God! There's a frickin' horse and some chickens and cows there. Next."

"Paris, we've been looking for a half-hour now and the past few restaurants we saw, you had a problem with every one of them. Let's just go to this one."

"Fine, but if the fricking chickens take the clean toilets, I'm stuffing one down your throat."

"How appetizing." I smiled.

While Paris took her time in the washroom, I decided to order. "Excuse me. Can I have 2 hamburger platters with 2 cokes and extra extra large fries and I mean extra because right about now, we're ready to eat those chickens you have outside."

"Coming right up," said the waiter. "Harley! Pack up the chickens before they get eaten!" he said to the other worker. I frowned. I hope he knew I was joking. Just then, he glanced at me and smiled. "Your order will be ready in five minutes; you can take a seat at any table."

"Okay so I see chicken poo lying on the floor and I'm thinking, why can't these cheap restaurants give in a little bit of money to make this crappy place at least good enough to pee in. IS THAT TOO MUCH TO ASK?" said Paris loud enough for the waiter to hear.

"Paris, shush! Now, you said you needed some girl talk, so what's up?" I said changing the subject.

"Well, Doyle's been giving me a pretty hard time ever since we've moved into our apartment, since, well, you're not going back to school…" Paris stuttered. "Like yesterday, I found out that he doesn't clip his toenails. Come on, we're not in a third world country for god sakes!" Paris said just as the waiter put our trays of food (mostly fries) on our table.

"Is there anything else?" asked the waiter grinning at me.

"No thanks, we're good." I said giving him a quick smile.

After he left, Paris whispered, "What the hell was that Rory?"

"What're you talking about?"

"You totally gave him that, "I'm interested" smile."

"What? No way!" I protested

"And, oh, well, he's totally on to you."

"Shut up. Eat and continue your story." I said rolling my eyes.

"Okay fine, but just to tell you, you're not as innocent as you look Gilmore. Well anyways, I found out Doyle never clips his toenails. Obviously, I was disgusted by that so I talked to my counselor who told me that in a relationship I should be honest and say what I think." Paris took a deep breath.

"And?"

"And well, I told him. Doyle got all pissed off so he hasn't been talking to me for a while. And after that, I noticed that he doesn't even take a shower everyday! How disgusting is that?"

"Whoa! Doyle – Mr. Clean?"

"And then…the next day I met Jamie and well – "

"Oh God! Please don't tell me…you – "I gulped

"Eww Rory! How could you even think that? I didn't sleep with him!"

"Yeah, you probably just kissed him."

"You are one hell of a psychic Gilmore," Paris mumbled.

"How could you Paris? You cheated on Doyle. You're treating Doyle like you treated Jamie before!"

"Hey I didn't tell you this to criticize me okay! I wanted some advice because you seem like the person who knows how to deal with these types of situations."

"What do you mean? How would I know how to deal with this?"

"Well…" Paris began, "you've had experience with this so I want to know what you did."

"Experience? What're you talking about? I've never cheated on – "And suddenly, the memories of my past relationships were flashing inside my head like a movie. I _have _cheated on my boyfriends before, or rather, _boyfriend._ Dean. Dean was the one I cheated on twice. Cheating on Dean was a total surprise to me. I still remember that day as clear as glass. It was at Sookie's wedding. I was walking into the forest, until I saw Jess leaning on one of the trees. Even though I was with Dean, I loved Jess. Jess and I had so much in common and we had our moments together. But that day was unexpected. When I looked at Jess, I went straight up to him and kissed him. It was a long one. We both knew there was something very special between us. I never thought how hard it must've been for Dean to accept the fact that his own girlfriend cheated on him. It was quite a heartbreaking moment but in the end I did end up with Jess. But, with Jess, it seemed like I just wasted a lot of my time since Jess left Stars Hollow the following year. After that I saw Jess only twice. The first time he came back, he told me the three words that I least expected to hear from him. I Love You. But after a while, it had no meaning since he just decided to run away again. How pathetic. And the last time I saw him, he came up with his master plan, which was to get settled together somewhere far away from everybody I knew and loved. Of course I rejected him. How could I leave the people I love to go with some jerk? And the last time I heard of him, he was in New York. New York…

"Rory? RORY! Geez, okay, I'm sorry I brought that up, but I seriously need some advice." Paris pleaded.

"That's okay…" I said staring at the ceiling trying to stop my tears from falling out. "First of all Paris, who do you really love? Jamie or Doyle?"

"I don't know – I mean with Doyle I had a very intimate and close relationship. With Jamie it was his knowledge, our interests were the same and he always kept me happy. He was my first love."

"The thing is Paris, if you love Jamie, you have to make sure you won't make a stupid mistake like cheating on Jamie again. He's already been through that once. You can't make him go through it again."

"This is great! I guess I did make the right decision." Paris exclaimed happily.

"You're with Jamie?" I said, shocked.

"Yeah! That's why we're going to New York."

"Jamie's in New York?"

"Yeah. After we kissed, we met each other again and tried to make a decision of whether or not we should have a relationship. Jamie told me, if I truly believed in this relationship, I should meet him in New York this weekend."

"Wow! That's great Paris! That means you dumped Doyle? How'd he take it?"

Paris turned red. "Guess not…" I mumbled.


	3. Let the Games Begin

**3. Let the Games Begin**

Finally we reached New York in the evening. We were both very exhausted so as soon as we got to our hotel, we ate some food and I went to take a nap. When I woke up, I saw Paris wearing a mini skirt with a beautiful, bell-sleeved lace top.

"What're you all dressed up for?" I asked.

"Meeting Jamie tonight."

"Already? Did you call Doyle and tell him?"

"I'll do that tomorrow," Paris said as she put on her lipstick.

"Okay," I yawned.

"And by the way," Paris began as she walked to the door, "tomorrow, you're coming with us to this bookstore in some mall. Apparently there's some amazing writer who's signing books. Jamie told me he's about our age. Can you imagine? So much publicity for a twenty-one year old."

"What's his name?"

"I dunno. We'll find out tomorrow. I'll see you later, oh yeah, if you decide to go out, make sure you lock the door properly. Everyone isn't Rory around here."

And with that, Paris walked out the door. Finally! Peace and quiet! I randomly picked a book from the suitcase. "Howls". That gave me quite a shiver. This was the first book Jess had ever taken from me.

I opened the book and found all these margin notes in it. And as I read from page to page I laughed at the small jokes Jess wrote on the sides of the page. The rest of the night was spent reading, eating, watching some old movies the hotel had kept in our suite and more eating. Finally at about 3 in the morning, I heard a knock on the door. It was Paris.

"Tonight was sooo good. Jamie took me to this perfect restaurant, with perfect candles, perfect napkins, perfect food and perfect him." Paris said happily as she flung herself onto the bed.

"Say perfect one more time…" I muttered.

"Anyways, tomorrow morning, Jamie said we have to see this new writer. Apparently he's got some great talent. So tomorrow get up at 8:00a.m, okay?"

"Hit the lights Paris." I said as I dozed off to sleep. Little did I know, I'd need every bit of it.

"Are you crazy Paris? It's 7 in the morning. Only had four hours of sleep." I said grumpily.

"Come on Rory, I don't want to have to get Snow White in here to wake you up."

This was weird, Paris never got up early in the morning. And I mean never. When we lived together in our dorm, she was always the one who wore PJ's and got late for classes. Paris was certainly excited today.

"Someone's very giddy these days." I grinned.

"Well, you know what they say, when you're with good people you tend to be great!"

"What're you talking about? People don't say that."

"Oh shut up and get ready."

Finally! We reached Newport Centre Mall at 9:30pm. Paris said the writer would come at ten o'clock. In the meantime, I decided to check out some of the books in the bookstore. Shelf by shelf, I went through the books that were kept in alphabetical order by the author's first name. From Henry Adams to Charles Dickens to William Wordsworth, I flipped through most of the books that I had read continuously throughout my high-school days.

Then, something caught my utmost attention. To the left of me, there was a big round table with a banner that said "Our Talented Future" in big purple letters. On top of the table were hundreds of hard-cover books. Naturally, I walked right up to the table. I picked up one of the books to look at and a chill went down my spine. My legs felt weak and my heart began pounding. It was like a heart attack I never had. How could this be? Suddenly, my hands gave up on me and the book fell on the ground. I took one more look at the cover. In capital, silver letters read "Eternity lasts Forever..". Below it was a name that stuck out like the golden arches – Jess Mariano.


	4. Was it Destiny?

**4. WAS IT DESTINY?**

"Rory! Rory? Get up, he's here!" said Paris dragging me to the entrance

I was shaking. I couldn't believe this was happening. Leaving wasn't an option. Was this really happening? How did Jess – the one who wasn't sure about his future – become a writer this fast? It's been only one year since I last saw him. Had he changed so much?

I looked at Jamie and Paris who were right next to me, they looked pretty happy together. Did Paris know about this? Had she planned it? I doubt it, Paris may be an extremist, but this was way beyond her skills.

We all walked toward the main doors of the bookstore. There were about 200 people who crowded around. Through the windows, there were more fans lining up with books to be signed.

Suddenly the doors opened. There he was - wearing black jeans with a cut off dress shirt and a long-sleeved, fitted shirt inside it. His hair was jelled up nicely too. This was the same old Jess, but there was something different about him. As he walked through those doors, he smiled at the crowd of people cheering for him. He wasn't the arrogant, egotistical fellow who got into fights with everyone in school. He was a matured, intelligent, young man. Anger flourished me as I watched Jess walk. Why did he leave me? I remembered all the pain I went through each day without him. And then one fine day, he tells me he loves me and then gets in his car and leaves. For a year, I had kept my hopes up, "He'll come back" I thought to myself. But no, he didn't.

It took about 10 minutes till Jess got to the round table. I couldn't leave right then because the doors had closed and plus, it would call for attention. Attention that I obviously didn't want. I had to hide behind someone so that he couldn't see me. When Jess reached the table, everyone applauded.

"Thank you everybody for coming here. I appreciate everyone's support. When I first decided to write this book, I never thought so many people would respond so positively. The only reason I wrote this story, was to ease the pain of losing my first love."

Everyone stood quietly listening to him as he talked more about his book. A book about us, I thought to myself. _Us._ It seemed like he hadn't lost hope yet. Tears formed in my eyes. Everything began to get blurry. I quickly wiped my tears, only to find Paris looking at me, completely shocked.

"I swear Rory, if I had known, I would've never brought you here. I am so sorry." Paris said sympathetically. I nodded my head. I guess, this was meant to be. I felt like running away from all of this. I wanted my Mommy.

The book signing session lasted about an hour. Jess looked quite happy with what he was doing. He seemed settled down. Finally it was over, and Jess left the book store. After crouching behind Paris for an hour, I got up, my back aching of pain.

"Soooo..." I said to Paris, "Wasn't that a surprise? I'm as shocked as you are."

"I'm really sorry Rory. I mean how could a num-skulling hard as rock jerk, learn how to write a friggin' book. Geez, times like these, I feel so angry I wish I could – "

"Remember what your counselor said Paris," Jamie said sternly, eyeing Paris.

"Let's just get out of here, I can't bear it here anymore." I said.

As soon as we got out of the bookstore we browsed around a little bit. Paris bought some shoes and some clothes. I bought some purses and shoes with the money Grandma gave me.

Finally, with all the rush in Newport Mall, we managed to get to the parking lot safely. We used Jamie's car instead of renting our own. Jamie had a silver BMW 645 model 2005. It was a very smooth car.

One step out of the exit doors, I felt calmness. My nose sucked in the fresh, cool air that surrounded me. I forgot all my troubles and became relaxed again. But that feeling didn't last too long.

"Think I didn't see you Rory?" said a very familiar voice behind me.

I turned around. Against the wall, reading what appeared to be a book by Stephen King named "Bag of Bones", was - Jess. All my calmness had escaped from me. I was feeling shaky. I didn't know what to say. So I just began to walk away. I felt like crying. I felt like screaming my head off at Jess. But I knew that was not the way to do things.

Suddenly, an arm grabbed my hand and I felt like I was being kidnapped.

"WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME JESS?" I yelled.

"We need to talk Rory. Please, I swear, I'm different now. Trust me. Please just five minutes, just talk with me."

"Lay off jerk!" snapped Paris.

"What is it now Jess? What's your master plan this time? You want us to get married?"

"Rory. Trust me. I'm not that kind of guy anymore."

"Trust?" I laughed sarcastically. "You want me to trust you? Trust you after what you've done to me?"

"Just, please Rory. I'm just asking for five minutes, and after that, it's your choice if you want to see me or talk to me ever again." Jess said quietly.


	5. Let's be friends

**5. Let's be friends**

"What do you want Jess?" I asked. I agreed to take five minutes of my time to end all of this. I thought maybe all he wanted was an official closure to finally end this. Paris and Jamie said they'd be waiting in the car for me.

"I won't take to long, I promise," said Jess. "All I wanted to tell you is that you were my first love, and I will never be able to forget you. I know I should've treated you better. I was a jerk back then. You are so special, and you didn't deserve a guy like me. And I've learned my lesson and I am very sorry for what I did to you."

Tears formed in my eyes. It had been so long ago that I had seen the sweet side of Jess. "So is this some kind of way to get me back? Because it'll never happen." I said quietly, looking away from his sparkling eyes. He looked like he was about to have a breakdown.

"No, I just felt that in order to carry on with life, you need to revisit the past and correct all your mistakes. I have this friend, let's call him Bob. Bob was a man who once fell in love with a woman, let's calls her Suzy. Now Suzy was a wonderful woman who always loved Bob. One day, Suzy found out that Bob had another girlfriend and because of that, she never forgave Bob for what he did. Until today, Bob has not been able to carry on with his life because of how ashamed he was of his behaviour."

There was a small moment of silence where my face turned red from trying really hard not to laugh. I just couldn't bear it! I began to laugh really hard. "Where the hell did you get that from Dr. Phil?"

"One of those self-help books Luke talked me into." Jess laughed.

"Luke?" I asked shockingly. "Luke used a self-help book? Oh my God!"

"Yup! And the last time I talked to him, it seemed like it was working like a charm."

I laughed harder. I knew what that meant. After all, my Mom and Luke were still going out with each other. Unless things changed since I left, which I doubt because I know Mom and Luke are meant to be.

There was another moment of silence where Jess and I had a moment together. I looked into his glowing eyes that were filled with sadness and love. Jess had changed, I thought to myself.

"Listen Rory, I truly am sorry for what I did to you. I want you to have a copy of my new book. I signed it and everything. I put a few side notes on the pages, as usual. I hope you like it."

"Thanks," I said smiling. I was just about to leave when Jess grabbed my hand lightly.

I turned around to face him and noticed how there was only a little bit of space between us.

"Rory," he whispered, "if ever, you need a friend or someone to talk to, know that I you can count on me. It may be hard to believe, but trust me." And with that, he gave me tight hug.

I almost began to cry right there on his shoulders. I wanted tell him all my problems, all my worries and troubles. Instead, I held my thoughts back and gave a quick smile.

"Bye Jess," I whispered.

"Bye Rory," he said.

Before I turned around, I looked into his eyes again. Between us, there was some sort of understanding, some kind of bond that I can't quite explain. As I walked towards Jamie's car, I wiped away my tears. This was destiny, I thought to myself. This was meant to be.


	6. Can't stop thinking about you

_Ziggy13- Hey readers! Thank you very very much for all your reviews and your comments. Please continue to add your input in this story and any constructive criticism will be very much appreciated as well as any opinions or reflections on the story line. Thanks again everyone. Enjoy GG . Keep reading! Chow!_

**6. Can't stop thinking about you…**

"Wow! I can't believe this Rory. What does this mean? Do you still have any feelings for him?" asked Paris

We were in our hotel room eating tons of food we ordered through room service. Jamie dropped us off right after the incident at the mall. He and Paris had plans for tonight, which meant another night of loneliness but at least this time, I could reflect on the problems that came upon me like a huge brain teasing calculus problem.

"I don't know Paris." I said as I munched on some potato chips. "I mean, I just began to forget about Jess, and suddenly, out of pure coincidence, he comes back into my life again."

"I don't know about you Rory, but I think this is meant to be. I mean there must be some reason you two had to meet each other again. What are the odds of meeting your ex-lover in New York after a year of separation?"

"I don't know." I sighed. I could still feel Jess's warm breath on my shoulder as he said those last words to me. And for once, in a long time, I trusted him and what he said.

Two hours later, Jamie came by to our hotel room to pick up Paris. He looked like a gentleman wearing a black suit with a navy blue shirt and matching tie inside. Paris was wearing a long spaghetti strap dress with a black camisole on top.

"Hey Rory. How're you feeling?" asked Jamie.

"Just fine, thanks."

"You forgot your…erm ... book in my car. Here you are." Jamie handed me the book with extreme care, as if it were going to fall apart any minutes.

"Thanks Jamie." I said trying to show no emotion. I glanced at the book again. On it was a picture of a young man writing in his notebook. Behind him is some sort of shadow of a young woman with long hair wearing a pleated skirt. I swirled my fingers around the words that spelt "Jess Mariano". Almost about to start crying, I placed the book on the night table.

"Are you going to be okay Rory?" asked Paris.

"I'll be fine Paris. Go along and have a great time guys. See you later Jamie."

"Bye Rory, call us if you need anything," said Jamie.

The door shut with a quiet_bang._ I lied down on my bed for a few moments. _I need advice_ I thought to myself.

I got off the bed and picked up my cell-phone from my purse. I dialed the number I wanted to call. _Ring ring._ The answering machine picked up. On the recording was the voice I had known all my life. "Hello? Hello? Just playing with you. You have reached the Gilmore house. If you think you are important or if you are Luke and not my mother, please leave a message. I will gladly pick the message up! Chow!". _Click! _I hung up.

I flung myself onto the bed again and took the book that was laid on top of the night table beside me. "Eternity lasts Forever". Right as I opened the book, a small slip of paper fell out. On it was a message. It said:

_Dear Rory,_

_If you ever need to contact me for anything, anything at all, call this number – _

_(201) 234-8166. You can reach me at anytime of the day._

_Love,_

_Jess Mariano_

Tear drops from my eyes dropped on the slip of paper. I quickly wiped my eyes and picked up my cell-phone again. I carefully dialed the number on the slip.A few seconds later, someone picked up.

"Hello?" said a familiar voice.

"Hey Jess. It's me Rory."

"Rory. Hey…I thought I'd hear from you soon."


	7. Hanging Out

**7. Hanging Out**

_Ring._ The doorbell rang about thirty minutes later while I was in the middle of wearing my knee length boots. I opened the door to find Jess standing outside wearing a pair of black jeans and a light blue, long-sleeved shirt. I could see a book sticking out of one of his back pockets, as usual. In his hand was a small gift wrapped in shiny blue wrapping paper and a white bow on the top.

"I was meaning to give this to you…erm…the last time I saw you," Jess stuttered.

"Thanks," I said as I took the gift and kept it on my night table.

"I'm all set, let me get my purse and I'm ready to go." I was a little excited for tonight since I would finally be able to see New York at night.

We were on the road for thirty whole minutes in the car. Jess drove a silver porche. It was a really sexy car.

"Where are we going?" I asked impatiently. It was probably the fifth time I asked him that question.

"Hold your horses. We're almost there. Geez, you must've been such a pain when you were little."

Finally we stopped by a fancy restaurant. _A la Claire, _it was called.

"It's the best restaurant in Jersey city. My favourite actually. Excellent chicken dishes." Jess said. "I thought you might like it, since you and your mother are both chicken lovers."

"You're right about that." I said.

When we got in, a plump waitress with a red and white uniform came to us and led us to a square table with a burgundy tablecloth and fancy wine glasses on top.

"This is a really nice place Jess."

"Well, what can I say," Jess said proudly, "I'm a man with taste."

I grinned. "I'm not too sure about that." I said.

"We'll see about that." Jess said. "I'm thinking I should order for you tonight."

The plump waitress came back to our table and was about to give us our menus when Jess told her we knew what we were going to order.

"We'll have two orders of the Chicken pasta dish with lots of the specialty sauce. And we'll have two orders of the Spicy Chicken with rice." The waitress gave us one of those looks Mom and I got a lot because we ordered the amount of food for four people when there was only the two of us. But in the end, they'd be surprised because we'd finish off every bit of food that was on our table.

"And for drinks, we'll have a pitcher of Nestea." Jess looked at me to confirm that I was okay with Nestea. I gave him a nod.

The waitress quickly wrote down the last order, and left.

"So how are things going with you at Yale?" Jess asked.

"Umm…pretty good…actually…I'm taking some time off." I said quietly.

"Time off? Why?"

"I don't know it's just that, all that work made me all stressed out and I mean I just needed a bit of time off. That's all." I lied.

"Oh, okay," said Jess. He probably knew that I was hiding something.

After we ate our dinner, we walked towards Jess's car.

"That was the most amazing food I've ever had!"

"I told you, I know what I'm talking about when it comes to food."

We hit the road again, this time for about twenty minutes.

"Where are we going Jess?"

"To this really amazing record store." Jess said "It has the best classic records you'll ever find."

The store was called _Al's Old Record Shop._ The sign said it was closed right now.

"It's closed." I said as we got out of the car.

"Do you have a clip on you Rory?" Jess asked.

"Umm…ya…but why?" I asked suspiciously.

"Just pass it Sherlock." I handed him a bobby pin I had in my purse. Jess walked up to the door and kneeled down to face the keyhole. For a few seconds, he jiggled the pin in the key hole for the store and _click _– Jess had cracked the door open!

"Jess! What're you doing?"

"Are you coming in or what?" Jess asked as he stepped into the store.

I thought for a moment, and then I gave a big sigh, "If you can't beat them, join them." I said quietly as I followed Jess in.


	8. What a Night!

**8. What a Night!**

"Jess! What're we doing? The store's closed!"

"Ahh…Don't worry about it. I've done this so many times, I've never been caught. Trust me." Jess seemed very casual about this. He was calmly looking through the rows of records in the store. It was quite dark, but he brought a flashlight along with him. After a few minutes, I joined him.

"Oh my God! It's the vinyl copy of _Unforgiven_ by the GoGos signed by all five of them! I've been looking for something like this, practically all my life!" I said to Jess.

"Take it," said Jess.

"I'll just come here tomorrow and get it."

"Just take it now Rory."

"Erm…" I mean, it's not like I never did anything bad in my life, I thought to myself as I recalled my last yacht stealing moments.

Jess grabbed the record from me and led the way out of the record store. But as we left, I saw him take out a fifty dollar note from his pocket and he placed it on top of the cashier counter. I stared at Jess for a while; thinking about how much had changed in Jess. For the good, that is. But then again, there was also a part of him that hadn't changed so much.

Finally we reached my hotel at about two in the morning. Time had flown by so fast! Even though I told Jess I'd be alright going up the elevator myself, he insisted on dropping me. He said it was the _manly_ thing to do.

"So you still with Dean?" he asked quietly as we went up the elevator.

"Nope, not Dean."

"Oh. So you found another stray?" Jess asked.

"His name's Logan. Logan Huntzburger."

"From Yale?"

I nodded. I felt sort of uncomfortable talking about this with him, since I sort of felt sorry for him. Jess always loved me, I thought, it's just, he wasn't into a commitment back then. As we walked out of the elevator and towards the left hallway, I looked into Jess's eyes. I could still see how much he loved me, even now. Even after he knows I'm with another man. Even though he knows we can never be. After knowing all of this, he still came to cheer me up when I called for him tonight.

Finally we reached my hotel room. I quickly took my keys out from my purse. When I looked up, I saw Jess looking at me but staring into space, as if absorbed into a new world all together. I waved my hand in front of his eyes. His eyes flickered for a moment and then he straightened up and gave me a sweet smile.

"Thank you so so much for a wonderful night Jess! I swear, I had a great time. Really, thank you so much!"

"Hey, don't thank me. Thank Al." Jess said, winking at me as he handed me the record.

I laughed. "Bye Jess." I gave him a quick hug and saw him walk toward the elevators. As I saw him walk away, I felt some sort of sadness forming deep inside my heart. I felt like crying. What's happening to me? Before I bursted in to tears in the lobby, I rushed into my hotel suite.

When I reached inside, I saw something that caught my attention. It was the shiny blue wrapping paper that covered a rectangular shape on my night table. _The gift, _I thought to myself. I totally forgot about that. I quickly sat on my bed and like a little kid at Christmas time, I opened the present. It turned out to be a small red, rectangular box. I opened it. I let out a soft cry.

I stared at it once more. Inside the jewelry box, was a smooth golden band that had my name engraved on it with a beautifully carved diamond on top. It was _the _most beautiful ring I had ever seen – even better than the one Max had given to Mom, when they were to get married.


	9. What now?

_Ziggy13: Hey everybody! I hope you all saw episode 8 of season 6! It was amazing! Jess was awesome. IF YOU HAVENT SEEN IT YOU HAVE TO WATCH IT! Thanks again for all of your reviews. Please continue giving you're feedback (bad or good) lol. Continue reading! Thanks. Chow for now D._

**9. What now?**

The rest of the night, I lay in bed, thinking what would've happened if I ran away with Jess that dark night at Yale. Getting married and Jess ware two things that didn't go together. Jess never wanted commitment and to think, he was going to propose to me that night was a big surprise to me. Finally I got some sleep at what felt like six in the morning!

I woke up in the middle of the afternoon to the smell of fresh fruit and pancakes. I looked around and saw Paris humming to herself while taking a bite out of the fresh pineapple on the plate.

"Paris?" I asked while laughing a little.

Paris was startled to see me awake for a moment. "Oh, I didn't see you were awake."

"Oh don't mind me. Continue with you're morning song. Would you like me to invite the teletubbies over. I'm sure they'd love to sing and dance with you."

"Shut up Gilmore." Paris said while taking a bite out of her pancake.

"Please tell me you asked for coffee! You know how I get when I don't get coffee."

"Yeah, I did. Just to be on the safe side. Didn't want to get bruised like the last time."

I laughed.

The rest of the afternoon went by shopping at any clothing store we saw. We bought so many clothes that we could barely carry all of it. Shopping took my mind off a lot of things but as soon as we entered our hotel room, thoughts that had escaped my mind for a short amount of time caught up with me and began to suffocate my brain again.

I was meaning to call Jess and tell him to take the ring back because I don't deserve it but that would just make both of us feel uncomfortable especially after such a great time we had last night. I finally decided that I wouldn't mention it because that would make him feel worse about everything. I thought about how hard it must've been for Jess to keep that ring with him after all this time. If it were me, I would've thrown it away because I couldn't live with the fact that the person I loved was never meant to be with me.

"RORY! Are you listening? You seem so lost in space." Flinching, I realized Paris was waving her hand in my face trying to get my attention.

"Sorry Paris. What was that?"

Paris rolled her eyes and continued to talk. "I was saying that Jamie invited the both of us to this party. He says it'll be fun because it's full of people our age. Who knows, we might even see Madeline and Louise."

"Naah. I don't think so. I need a break from drinking and partying. It's all I do with Logan anyways."

"Come on Rory! What are you going to do all day in this hotel?"

"I'll call Jess over and we'll go watch a movie or something."

"Why don't you just bring Jess along to the party. I'm sure he'll enjoy it!"

"Uhhhh…"

"Then it's set you and Jess are coming."

"Why are you so persistent on me coming with you guys?"

"Because…Jamie knows mostly everyone there and I might feel left out if he leaves me to go with his other friends."

"So basically I'm your backup eh?"

"I'd refer to that as a good friend. Backup seems to negative."

"What time?" I said as I took out my cell phone from my purse.

"Starts at 8pm. But people come a bit later."

I began to dial Jess's number. It ringed about two times and then someone picked up.

"Hey Rory."

"Hey Jess. I was wondering. Do you have any plans for tonight?"

"Nope, I'm free. Why what's up?"

"It's just, Paris invited me to this party and she said I could bring a friend along. So I thought I'd ask you."

"Well how nice of you to think of me. What's the catch?"

"Nothing, it's just a casual party that's all. So are you coming?"

"Sure. But it's only because I have nothing to do tonight."

"And I thought you were a busy man being a writer and all." I said smiling.

He laughed. "When should I pick you up?"

"Umm…how about 9pm?"

"Sound good. I guess I'll see you then."

I shut my cell phone and looked at Paris who was staring at me as if she were fascinated by what just happened.

"What?" I asked.

"Nothing. It just seems Snow White was blushing when she was asking Prince Charming out."

"Shut up Paris!" I grinned throwing a pillow at her.

_Ziggy13 – I just wanted to say how sorry I am for writing after such a long time. It's just I hardly have anymore time to write (. Anyways hope you all will enjoy this chapter! Keep giving in reviews ). Chow!_


	10. Let the Party Start!

**10. Let the Party Start!**

Tick, tick, tick. The time was ticking by and Jess still hadn't arrived. Where was he? It's 10 O'clock. This is so like him to be late! Finally, I decided to call him up on his cell number. I picked up my flip phone and dialed his number. His number seemed to have glued itself in my mind. The phone rang and rang but there was no answer. Finally an answering machine came up.

"Hey! It's Jess Mariano. Leave a message. Nothing too fancy, just a simple name and where to call ya back."

"Hey Jess. It's Rory, just calling to ask where the hell you are. Hope you're okay, call me back when you get the message."

At about 10:30pm I finally heard a knock on the door.

Angry as I was, I stomped my feet all the way to the hotel room door. I quickly opened it, my face bright red like lava. For a few seconds I was confused because I saw nothing in front of me but when I looked at the ground below me I saw a small, cute little sunflower about a foot away from my high heeled boots. _Sunflowers _were my favourite. In an instant, my frown turned upside down when I saw Jess's guilty face looking at me. Jess looked so adorable when he was guilty. I let out a quiet laugh. I didn't want him to think that a cute little face would make me forget how angry I was.

Jess was wearing a dark pair of jeans with a black striped shirt with collars. In his hands was a huge bouquet of sunflowers sitting comfortably in purple wrapping paper. I noticed that the sunflowers were also mixed in with a few lilies. Lilies were also my favourite and so it seemed that Jess still remembered this after all these years. All those times when I thought Jess never paid attention to what I said, were flashing back in my head moment after moment.

"I am so sorry Rory! I swear, the stupid flower guy. He didn't have anymore sunflowers left so I had to go all the way to one of those stinking farms up north to get sunflowers."

"You know, you didn't have to buy me these." I said trying to cover up my secret smile.

"I know, but it just seemed a bit more, what's the word…traditional. Anyways I remembered that sunflowers were your favourite."

"Funny how you remember these things now. If you were like this a few years ago, who knows I might have reconsidered running away with you." Jess laughed hesitatingly almost turning red. I shouldn't have brought that up, I thought to myself.

"Shall we go?" I said, changing the subject.

"Ladies first." Jess answered holding his hand out like an escort. I clinged to his arm and we walked together, arms linked.

We reached the party late but it didn't really matter because parties like these went on forever! I learned from Logan that you should always attend parties late since all the good drinks were served later on in the party. Weird theory but I always followed it because of Logan.

The party was at some rented hall where there were about one to two hundred people. We met Paris in front of the bar section where she seemed to be having a good time with Jamie who had his arm around her while talking to a friend of his.

"Hey Paris. We just got here now. Having fun?"

Paris turned from her seat to see Jess. "Hey. Long time Jess. Still got the Stallone look going for you eh?"

Jess gave a small cough and said, "Not looking so bad yourself Paris."

"Oh. By the way, this is Jamie, my…boyfriend." Paris stuttered.

"Nice to meet you Jamie." Jess said as he gave a warm handshake to Jamie.

A bartender dressed in the traditional tux came to attend us. "Anything for you ma'am?" he asked me.

"I'll have a martini and he'll have…"

"Just a beer thanks." Jess said.

It felt good to be going back to parties just like I did with Logan. Usually Logan and I would hang out at the bar the whole time taking in shots and martinis. I needed this. I needed to get rid of all my problems for a while, I thought to myself.

The bartender came back to us and handed me a martini and Jess, a beer.

We toasted and in one gulp I drained the martini down my throat, the alcohol burning it as it streamed like a river down to my stomach. I gave a soft cough after I was finished and saw Jess staring at me amazed.

"Easy there Lester."

I laughed so hard I almost choked. Jess was referring to a book called Dark Star about a man name Everett Lester who led a famous rock band but was swallowed up by the drug and alcoholic influence around him.

Jess looked at me grinning widely as he took a sip out of his beer. For a moment we stared at each other.

I got up from my seat to get a refill of my drink from the bartender. Usually, I wasn't the person to drink much but tonight I felt as if it were my right. I've been through so much, I thought, I need to relax and let things slide. But what did I know that too much of a good thing would turn out to be…_bad._


	11. Kiss Me Goodnight!

_Ziggsta – Hey guys! So srry I havent updated in a LONG time! …too caught up in my own stories wink wink anyways, im bak here to continue this romantic story for Jess and Rory! To jess and rory! D_

**11. Kiss me Goodnight!**

"Jess, have I ever told you how sexy you look tonight?"

"I don't think I caught it the last fifteen times you said it! But keep saying it, maybe I'll get you another vomit bag for the rest of the way home."

It was almost four o'clock in the morning and Jess finally got me into his car after a lot of hard work. I don't know what got into me that night. I guess it was the only alternative I had if I didn't want to go in complete depression with all the problems I had on my mind that night.

"Jess…?"

"Speak Lester," answered Jess.

"I………I…- "

"I think I'm getting it so far. I….."

"I think I'm going to need that extra vomit bag!" There and then I vomited a huge puddle of what looked like rotten, mushed-up pizza, all over Jess's jeans!

"Hmm…well that was entertaining. Here I think I have tissue at the back. It's kept only for these _special moments_." Even though Jess laughed it off, there was an uncertain look on his face – a mix of annoyance and disappointment.

"Oh my God! Jess! I am so sorry! I didn't think I was going to do it now."

"Don't worry about it! I've been through it all. Trust me, it takes a while to master the skill of knowing when to throw up." He gave out a laugh, trying his best to make me feel better, though I just kept feeling worse as the night went on.

Soon, we stopped at a nearby coffee shop that was surprisingly, open. Jess went inside with a spare pair of jeans he kept in the trunk of his car. During that time I got out a few breath mints, which usually kept me from vomiting and also kept my breath smelling reasonable. A few minutes later, Jess came outside with three large cups of coffee. As he got into the car, his head bumped mine and for what seemed like a long moment, I gazed into his eyes. The streetlights in the dark night made his eyes stand out like two glowing emeralds. I don't know what got into my brain that night, but it seemed so right for me to do. At that moment, nothing in the world seemed so crazy. Everything made so much sense.

Still gazing into his eyes, I finally realized how close we were. I felt his nose touch my nose and I could tell that I was slowly leaning towards him. My heart was controlling every move that I made, yet beating non-stop. My hand lifted its way up to his neck sliding it seductively. After so long, I felt his soft lips on mine, caressing it as it went deeper into my mouth. The kiss became stronger by the second and I found myself pulling him into my seat. Suddenly, Jess pulled back away, shocked and surprised.

After two minutes of realizing what we had done, Jess picked up the tray of cups he kept underneath his seat. "Coffee?" he whispered.

_Ziggsta – well I hope you enjoyed this chapter guys….remember FEEDBACK PLZ! Lol…I noe its been a while so for those of u still sticking around to read my story, keep feedbacking and those of u who are new readers to my story, same goes for you! Lol...btw guys….Jess is comin back for one more episode…it airs April 11th! Cant wait!_


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